It started with Istanbul and a cat. How did I end up in Manhattan?

My Travel Bucket List 2017

I feel like I can never travel enough. 2017 will not be any different to all the previous years when I tried to explore many new places. But, saying that, I must also admit that life in the U.S. is expensive and traveling with the country even more so. On the one hand, I really want to see more of the States; on the other hand, it was cheaper than an average month for me to pay my rent here and spend almost the whole of last summer in Turkey where I stayed in nice hotels, ate out all the time and enjoyed life. Therefore I am not sure about all my travel plans for this year. Some will really depend on special offers I find. It is a sad fact that it is oftentimes cheaper to fly to Europe than to the West Coast. Hopefully I’ll be a little more lucky throughout the year … (Dear shy millionaire, now would be an amazing time for you to feel brave enough and get in touch with me!) … so here is my travel bucket list 2017:

In April I am going to the Dominican Republic for two weeks. I have already booked this vacation because I am going to meet my parents there. The original idea was for me to fly to Europe during spring break and meet them somewhere in an all-inclusive hotel, e.g. in Greece. But reality said that all of Europe has Easter recess at the same time so that vacation offers were either expensive or already booked out. We eventually came up with the Dominican Republic where none of us has ever been before. Now I can’t wait to go there and lie in the Caribbean sun.

I would love to go to the West Coast at some point this year, but that really depends on the flight prices. My one week February week would have been an ideal time, but since there is a public holiday that Monday, everything is overpriced. Besides, Washington D.C., Atlanta and Chicago are also on my forever bucket list. Oh, and Orlando including Disney World and Harry Potter World.

I am certain though that I’ll go to New York City several times. Busses to the big city are affordable and the ride lasts only between four and five hours.

The Niagara Falls are another destination I should manage to see in 2017. I really want to see them because I love waterfalls. From spring till fall there are bus routes and tourist busses operating from Boston to the falls. I could go there for just a day – or continue the trip and step on Canadian soil, which would also be a first.

Europe or Germany in particular are not my top priority, but I assume I might go there at some point, if only to visit my granny. She would be very happy if I went to visit her. I still haven’t started to miss Germany as a country, I guess it’s just not going to happen. Of course my heart says I want to fly to Turkey, but my head so far has done a great job in saying no (shut up, heart, have some more chocolate!).

If I could choose from all destinations and didn’t have a limit to my budget, I’d definitely go to South Africa to visit one of my best friends, who works there; to Hawaii because why not; to Iceland because I’ve wanted to go for more than ten years (way before people discovered the country as a popular travel destination); to Morocco because, again, I’ve always wanted to go there; to Key West because I liked it a lot when I was there for a day last year [here], but would like to stay longer.